Questions & Answers about السنة اثنا عشر شهرا.
Why does the Arabic sentence use the singular word for month (شهرا) instead of the plural?
For numbers 11 through 99, Arabic always uses a singular noun. This noun must also be in the accusative case, which is why it ends with the '-an' sound. So instead of saying 'twelve months', Arabic literally says 'twelve month'.
How do we know to use the masculine form اثنا عشر for the number twelve?
For the numbers 11 and 12, both parts of the number must match the gender of the noun being counted. Since the word for month, شهر, is masculine, both parts of the number 12 take their masculine forms (اثنا and عشر).
Why is there an extra alif at the end of شهرا?
Why isn't there a word for 'is' between السنة and اثنا?
In Arabic, equational sentences (where A is B) do not use a 'to be' verb in the present tense. You simply put the subject (السنة) and the predicate (اثنا عشر شهرا) side by side to mean 'The year is twelve months'.
Why is the first part of the number written as اثنا and not اثني?
The number two (and the 'two' part of twelve) changes its spelling depending on its role in the sentence. Here, it acts as the predicate (telling us what the subject is), so it takes the nominative case, which uses the alif spelling اثنا.
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